This specification relates to supporting native program code extensions for cross-platform managed code environments.
A cross-platform managed code environment is a set of software that includes a runtime that has been written and compiled to run on multiple different computing platforms, and also often includes a software development kit (SDK) used by programmers to author and package (for installation) applications that operate on the runtime. Typically, each of the different computing platforms includes its own particular instruction set architecture (ISA) and operating system (OS) and has at least one associated type of native program code, which is the machine language or higher level programming language used for programs that run on that computing platform. For example, the x86 ISA and WINDOWS® OS (which support applications programmed in the C programming language) are a common computing platform for desktop computers. In addition, computing platforms can include other consumer electronic devices, such as smart phones and network enabled televisions, which can have different native code, instruction set architectures and operating systems, such as the ANDROID® OS.
The runtime provides a collection of utility functions that support an application program while it is running, often working with the OS of the computing platform to provide facilities (e.g., support for vector and raster graphics, bidirectional streaming of audio and video and one or more scripting languages). The utility functions can be called through an application programming interface (API) of the runtime, and since the runtime is available for installation on multiple different computing platforms, an application programmer can write application programs to operate on the runtime and is free to disregard the details of any specific computing platform where that application program may eventually be installed and operated. Examples of runtimes include JAVA® Virtual Machine (JVM), .NET, and ADOBE® AIR® software.
In addition, in some cases, the API of the runtime can be extended by program developers or computing platform manufacturers to add additional utility functions for use by application programs in order to augment the API provided by the runtime developer. Such extensions can sometimes include native code and can be added to the runtime through an extension mechanism provided by the runtime developer to allow application developers and device manufacturers to create new APIs (e.g., in JAVA® or ACTIONSCRIPT® code) that provide new functionality. Because such extensions contain native code, they are specific to the target platform (e.g. WINDOWS® OS or MAC® OS). For device manufacturers (i.e., 2nd party developers) this often creates no issues since they sometimes prefer their extensions to be limited to their own computing platform. In contrast, for application developers (i.e. 3rd party developers) who wish to work with an extension across multiple computing platforms, they often must create multiple versions of the extension, one for each computing platform.